Baylor University demoted its president and fired the head football coach for their handling of allegations of sexual assault by members of the school’s football team. NPR’s Audie Cornish talks to Paula Lavigne of ESPN’s Outside the Lines, who reported on the cases and how Baylor officials failed to investigate the allegations and violated Title IX federal law.

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Administrators at Baylor University didn’t do anything to protect students when they learned of a potential pattern of sexual violence by multiple football players. Coaches and school leaders sometimes treated alleged victims with hostility. Those are just two of the scathing conclusions and an independent review of how Baylor University handles sexual assault cases. Baylor’s football Coach Art Briles was fired this week and university President Kenneth Starr was demoted – and yes, it’s that Ken Starr, the former prosecutor who investigated the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal. Paula Lavigne is an investigative reporter with ESPN’s “Outside The Lines.” They’ve done some of the most extensive reporting on allegations against Baylor players.

Welcome to the program.

PAULA LAVIGNE: Thank you.

CORNISH: Ken Starr will still teach law and serve as chancellor at Baylor. And, of course, he actually helped commission the “Outside” review which led to his removal as president. What does the review say he did exactly?

LAVIGNE: The review doesn’t actually name anyone in particular, but it outlines quite a pattern of inaction from the very root of who these women were reporting to all the way up. And it was saying that there wasn’t a system set up, people didn’t know where to report, cases fell through the cracks. And at Baylor, Ken Starr is the ultimate decision-maker in these cases. That’s what their policy says and, you know, at the end of the day, he’s the one who needs to be accountable.

CORNISH: Now, the most critical portions of the review focus on the football leadership. Coach Art Briles helped turn the team around athletically, helped bring in millions of dollars in revenue, but how did the report describe his role in these allegations?

LAVIGNE: Well, the overall report, as I just mentioned, talks about just sort of this pattern of inaction, this pattern of not having appropriate reporting and response set up. But what sets the football department apart is that it describes deliberate actions by football officials of trying to circumvent the process – talking about dissuading complaints from going up to the proper channels from getting student athletes transferred out of the school when something came up instead of keeping them around and dealing with it and addressing the problem. And I think that’s what stood out is that, you know, there was inaction everywhere, but within the football department, there was a real deliberate attempt to try to sweep these things under the rug.

CORNISH: After all the reporting you’ve done, was there anything in this independent review from this Philadelphia law firm that surprised you?

LAVIGNE: What surprised me was how bad it really was. I mean, we knew from talking to the victims and even talking to the student athletes themselves and parents and others that this was happening, that people were coming and asking for help or they were hoping to get justice and they weren’t getting either. What we didn’t realize was how bad and how deliberate it really was.

CORNISH: Is there anything in the report that could allow for criminal prosecutions that would help make those cases?

LAVIGNE: Well, I think that’s going to be kind of an interesting next question is whether or not any of these women will be able to take this and try to use it, you know, not only to try to pursue criminal charges, but also there is a pending civil case right now involving one of the women. And, you know, the violations outlined in this report I would think would certainly advance her cause. You know, they’re going to run into some other, you know, logistical issues in terms of statute of limitations and so forth, but that’s definitely on the table.

CORNISH: To your mind, how does what’s been uncovered at Baylor fit into this larger conversation about sexual assault on campus, about athletic programs that operate as if they’re above the rules?

LAVIGNE: Well, we’re focusing on Baylor today, right, but this is a problem at so many college campuses across the country. I mean, what sort sets Baylor apart is the fact that we have so many cases. I mean, it’s – I think we had five individuals, and that doesn’t even count the domestic violence and the other cases that we’re aware of that, you know, haven’t come forward. But I think that this needs to send a message to those schools that they need to do a better job with this. I mean, I would’ve thought that by now they would’ve already gotten the word that, you know, you can’t sweep these things under the rug. Well, if this case doesn’t do that, if the firing of a coach and the demotion of a president doesn’t send enough – a big enough signal then I don’t know what will.

CORNISH: Paula Lavigne. She’s an investigative reporter with ESPN’s “Outside The Lines.”

Thank you so much for speaking with us.

LAVIGNE: You’re welcome.

Copyright © 2016 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

If Russian athletes are allowed to compete in Rio without proper vetting of doping allegations, it’ll be history repeating itself when Soviet athletes were suspected of doping in the 1970s and ’80s.

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

The Olympics are coming up. And if there were a gold medal for the country that has the most performance-enhanced athletes, commentator Christine Brennan knows which one she’d present it to.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, BYLINE: The facts and allegations have taken on the rhythm of an almost daily drumbeat marching towards this summer’s Rio Olympic Games. Have Russia’s Olympic sports already clinched the gold medal for cheating? The world track and field association thinks so. They banned Russia’s track and field athletes last November over widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs. There’s one last meeting in June to decide whether they stay suspended or are allowed back in time for Rio.

Detailed allegations of massive state-sponsored cheating during the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi led many of us to wonder – if the Russian’s rigged winter sports, why would they stop there? Why not the summer sports too? If news reports are true, at Sochi, tamper-proof containers were opened in the middle of the night to switch urine samples for Russian athletes, allowing cheaters who should have been caught to instead win medals and allowing Russia to win the overall medal count at those Winter Olympics. An intense investigation is underway to find out if Vladimir Putin’s big Russian coming-out party was simply one massive charade.

Meanwhile, perhaps you’ve heard of meldonium. That’s the heart medication tennis star Maria Sharapova and so many other young, healthy Russian athletes were taking for years, a medication with the wonderful side effect of increasing one’s endurance. It wasn’t banned before January 1, but it is now, meaning that until this year, Russian athletes have been using a performance-enhancing drug for years with no punishment. Russian officials have apologized and say they have cleaned up their act. One actually said a mouse would not be able to slip past us now. We’re not so sure about a mouse on steroids, though.

The natural reaction of any fan is to notice a pattern here and want to kick the bums out as a kind of lifetime achievement award. Problem is – time is running out to investigate the Russians. It took the doping police several years to catch Lance Armstrong, and he was just one person. How do you investigate an entire nation of athletes in a couple of months? And does the International Olympic Committee really want to kick out its pal Putin after he dropped $51 billion to put on the Winter Games two years ago? And what about the sponsors – or the TV networks? USA-Russian Olympic showdowns still draw big ratings.

That said, it will be an outrage if cheating athletes are allowed to compete in Rio. It will also be historic, as in history repeating itself. Back in the 1970s and ’80s, the Russians were called the Soviet Union. They ran an extensive doping program. And they had accomplices, the East Germans. Neither of those countries survived the end of the Cold War, but the cheating apparently did.

Copyright © 2016 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

The NFL announced three new sites for upcoming Super Bowls on Tuesday. Atlanta will get Super Bowl LIII in 2019, South Florida will host the following year and Los Angeles will have 2021.

The league had previously announced that the championship game would be held in Houston next year and in Minneapolis in 2018.

Atlanta will be hosting its third Super Bowl ever, and its first since 2000, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The paper adds:

“The vote capped a year-long effort by the Falcons and Atlanta’s bid committee to secure the game for the $1.4 billion retractable-roof stadium under construction next to the Georgia Dome.

“The bid, titled ‘Atlanta Transformed,’ emphasized the new stadium and its close proximity to other downtown attractions that were not in place when the Super Bowl was last played at the Georgia Dome.”

Earlier this year, the NFL had warned that the city could jeopardize its bid over Georgia legislation that restricted rights of LGBT people. Under pressure from the league and Atlanta businesses, the governor vetoed the bill in March, as The Two-Way reported.

The last time Los Angeles hosted the Super Bowl was 1993, The Los Angeles Times reports; the city’s new stadium is expected to open in 2019.

“There have been seven Super Bowls in the L.A. area, including the first,” the Times says, “but the city was taken out of the rotation when the Rams and Raiders left after the 1994 season.” (The NFL approved the Rams’ move back to Los Angeles in January.)

The Florida Sun-Sentinel notes that the bidding process has become more competitive in recent years “due to the economic windfall that it brings. The league has been favoring cities with new or significantly renovated stadiums.

The stadium in South Florida is undergoing a $450 million renovation by Dolphins owner Stephen Ross.

Bergbeklimmer Eric Arnold bereikt top Mount Everest bij vijfde poging https://t.co/oeswLrfXyd pic.twitter.com/991NvMg6Op

— Eric Arnold (@EricArnold8850) May 20, 2016

The Raptors surprised basketball fans Saturday night when they beat the Cavaliers. NPR’s Rachel Martin talks to Mike Pesca of Slate’s The Gist podcast about what the finals may look like.

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Time now for sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MARTIN: And no, we’re not going to talk about my tragic Ping-Pong loss to WEEKEND EDITION puzzle master Will Shortz that happened on Friday because Mike Pesca wants to talk about basketball. He, of course, hosts Slate’s “The Gist” podcast. Good morning, Mike.

MIKE PESCA: I wanted to talk about Ping-Pong actually. I begged you to talk about Ping-Pong. But I know it’s – the hurt is still raw.

MARTIN: It’s too – the wound – the wound is not yet healed.

PESCA: Yes.

MARTIN: So, yeah, let’s talk about real sports – no slight to table tennis players but, like, real sporting events…

PESCA: Yeah, yeah.

MARTIN: …Because there’s a lot of – there’s a lot of news going around in the basketball world. There was a big game last night and there was kind of a surprise that happened.

PESCA: Right. It was a big game because it’s a playoff game and we’re in the conference finals. So that, by definition, is big. But when you looked at what Cleveland was doing, which was decimating opponents and sweeping the first two series and just crushing the Toronto Raptors in their first two games, you’re saying to yourself – how big can this be? Let’s get onto the conference finals where – I’m sorry, let’s get onto the NBA Finals…

MARTIN: Yeah.

PESCA: …Where, of course, Cleveland will be. But the Raptors – they came back. It’s the first time the Raptors are in the conference finals. They beat Cleveland. And the reason…

MARTIN: Good for them.

PESCA: Good for them – I don’t know that this means Cleveland is at all in any position to worry a bit. Teams oftentimes will, even after getting crushed in two games, gather together the first time on their home court and win. But I just want to call out the performance of DeMar DeRozan, had a great offensive game for the Raptors. But what Bismack Biyombo did, who – of course, we love the name Bismack Biyombo.

MARTIN: We do.

PESCA: This guy – 39 minutes, 26 rebounds – entering the fourth quarter, he had 1 point and 20 – I think 21 rebounds entering the fourth. And I said to myself, I’ve never seen anyone so dominate a game scoring a point. His – and he dominated his opposite number, the center of the Cavaliers, Kevin Love, a descendant of the Beach Boys. Biyombo’s a descendant of Congo, speaks five languages.

MARTIN: Wow. Wow.

PESCA: Just – he’s an incredibly athletic player. And the fact that he does it without scoring – it was amazing to see his energy on the court.

MARTIN: So great game, but can we just acknowledge – which I guess you already have – this is all about the Cavs and Golden State, right? I mean, can we just move on to the inevitability?

PESCA: I’m quite comfortable saying that about the Cavs. I mean, still to this point, you know, the Las Vegas odds have them something like 94 percent chance of winning the series. You can’t really make money betting on the Cavs to win this series.

But, you know, Golden State lost Game 1 against the OKC Thunder. And if I – I do think that if the order of wins were different – if Golden State had won the first game, everyone would say, oh, that’s what we expected. And then if OKC had won the second game coming into today’s Game 3, we might be saying oh, maybe the Thunder have something going. But because that was a flip, I think what we do in our minds is we say, ah, this is the order. This is how things should be. Now, right, I’ll tell – I mean, obviously Golden State won the most games of any NBA team in history. But they’re not an unflawed team. And the Oklahoma City Thunder have two great players in Westbrook and Durant. And they could definitely win tonight. I would still say Golden State and Cleveland, quite likely to be the matchup in the finals.

MARTIN: OK. I guess I’ll still watch. Mike Pesca, he’s the host…

PESCA: You should, yes. It might be fun.

MARTIN: (Laughter) He’s the host of “The Gist” on Slate. Hey, Mike, thanks as always.

PESCA: You’re welcome.

Copyright © 2016 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Devastating loss. Homeboykris, died from apparent heart attack on walk back to barn after Preakness day win pic.twitter.com/AWuVCkh0Gg

— Chris Campitelli (@CampoTres) May 21, 2016

NPR’s Audie Cornish talks to Washington Post reporter John Woodrow Cox about his paper’s poll that shows 9 out of 10 Native Americans aren’t offended by the name of the Washington football team.

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

A new poll from The Washington Post finds that a vast majority of Native Americans they surveyed aren’t offended by the name of Washington’s NFL team, the Redskins. Five-hundred-and-four self-identified Native Americans across the country took part. It’s getting a lot of attention because, over the last few years, there’s been a vocal campaign to change the name of the team. I spoke with Washington Post reporter John Woodrow Cox about it.

JOHN WOODROW COX: The key question was one written, actually, into the Annenberg – the famous Annenberg poll from 2004 that basically asked people if they were offended by the Washington Redskins’ name. We wanted to understand if Native Americans’ opinions had changed over time, over the past twelve years, because that poll has been very controversial. It’s been used quite a bit by the team as justification for keeping the name. So we replicated that question exactly. That was the first question. And only 1 in 10 of Native Americans we asked that question to said, in fact, that they were offended by the name.

CORNISH: Tell us a little more about what people had to say because I know that you guys actually did some follow-up calls to find out their opinions.

COX: We did, yeah. It was really fascinating. One of the more memorable people I talked to was a man by the name of Charles Moore (ph). He’s a member of the Oneida tribe of Wisconsin, which is related to the New York Oneida tribe that has fought this. He’s 73 years old. He’s a physician. And he was somebody who said that he understood why people had an issue with the name, why they were offended by it, but that he didn’t at all and that he looked at it as a very low priority, that among the things that Native Americans were struggling with, that was not anywhere near the top of his list. And he even argued that the National Football League has bigger problems than the name of this team. Others have said the same. I talked to a woman in North Dakota by the name of Barbara Bruce (ph). She’s 70 years old, and she’s been a teacher for four decades. And she said that she liked the name. She saw it as something to be proud of.

CORNISH: Reaction from the team owner Dan Snyder in a statement – he said, we’re gratified by this overwhelming support from the Native American community, and the team will proudly carry the Redskins name. What do you make of that read of this poll?

COX: I think that’s a stretch. We didn’t ask people if they supported the name. Certainly in our anecdotal follow-up interviews, there were people who said they felt honored. Some people said that native imagery in sports at least represented them in some ways in a society where they often felt overlooked. But that was all anecdotal. I think to say that Native Americans support the name – that’s not something, certainly, that our poll asked or found.

CORNISH: Critics of your survey say that it doesn’t change the debate. And I want to get your opinion on that. I mean, what does this do? Is this suddenly a non-offensive term?

COX: I think that the debate won’t end with this at all. I think that the people who’ve been working on this for decades are going to continue to fight. Suzan Harjo has been fighting this since the 1960s. I don’t think she’s going to stop, and nor do I think the Oneida Indian Nation or the National Congress of American Indians – I don’t think any of those groups are going to stop. And they’ve – they’ve argued, too, that the dictionary defines this as a racial slur. And I’ve also, you know, heard people argue that, regardless of the number of Native Americans who are offended, they’ve said that well, isn’t it enough that 1 in 10 are offended? That’s certainly one of the arguments that they’ve made. So I don’t expect the poll to end the debate.

CORNISH: John Woodrow Cox of The Washington Post, Thank you so much for speaking with us.

COX: Thank you.

Copyright © 2016 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

The odds are stacked against any minor league basketball player trying to make the NBA. But one remarkable, contested shot helped pave the way for a player named John Holland.

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

It’s playoff time in the NBA, a league of millionaires where even the lowest-paid benchwarmer earns more than $500,000 a season. Hundreds of players are striving to break in, grinding away in the trenches of minor league basketball. It’s called the D-League – D for Development.

We followed the Canton Charge this season. NPR’s Uri Berliner explores the impact of a single play on the team’s fortunes and one player’s career.

URI BERLINER, BYLINE: It’s a long shot, this D-League thing, especially for players who never got drafted, like John Holland. Holland grew up in the Bronx. And in high school, he was on an academic track, not a straight path to professional basketball.

JOHN HOLLAND: Coming out of high school, I didn’t really have any offers – Division I offers.

BERLINER: Really.

HOLLAND: I was good. I thought I was good, but…

(LAUGHTER)

HOLLAND: Nobody else really on the Division I level thought I was good enough.

BERLINER: So he played for Boston University, hardly a basketball powerhouse. After college, he signed on with pro teams in France, Spain and Turkey. He made six figures, but that didn’t get him any closer to the NBA. So now at age 27, he’s in an apartment just outside of Canton, Ohio, taking a big chance on a single season, a season where he’s making $19,000.

HOLLAND: Sometimes it’s about more than money. It’s about the dream, you know? This year, this is what it’s about. This is the grind – chasing the dream.

BERLINER: The first time I meet Holland is one of those unglamorous moments. A Canton teammate – Mike Dunigan – has come over to make dinner and watch a game with Holland and his roommate. But before Dunigan will make the pasta, there’s this mess in the sink.

MIKE DUNIGAN: Yo, Man, these dishes ain’t clean, Bro. You got to wash these dishes or something, Bro. I ain’t going to be cooking and washing dishes.

BERLINER: The task falls to Holland. The next day, I catch up with Holland at practice. Only a small fraction of D-League players get NBA call ups, and for players at his position, the competition is fierce.

HOLLAND: I’m a guard – dime a dozen. We’ll see what happens when it’s all said and done.

BERLINER: As the season winds down, just one of his teammates gets a call up – a guy with previous NBA experience. Holland’s a bit under the radar – not the highest scorer on the team. But he’s consistently good, helping Canton to a 12-game winning streak and a spot in the D-League playoffs. We’re in Portland, Maine, for game two in playoff series against the Red Claws.

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: Number 10, guard, 6-5 from Boston University – John Holland.

BERLINER: The game’s close throughout. Holland makes two crucial three-point shots to keep Canton’s chances alive – and then this play with Canton up by one and less than a minute to go.

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #2: Cook running the clock down, now drives in, spins, spins back the other way, kicks it outside to Holland, fakes the three, one on the shot clock, has to take a contested throw. And he nailed it.

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #3: Oh, my word.

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #2: What a shot.

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #3: Unbelievable shot.

BERLINER: That shot seals the game for Canton and clinches the playoff series against the Red Claws, the Boston Celtics’ D-League team. And in the locker room after the game, Holland finds himself the center of attention. He gets a shout out from assistant coach Damon Jones who had a reputation for making big shots in the NBA.

DAMON JONES: You are now officially a part of the family.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Hey.

JONES: You are now an honorary Jones. Your name is John Jones.

(LAUGHTER, CROSSTALK)

BERLINER: Later, I ask Holland to relive the shot.

HOLLAND: It felt good when I released it, and it was an amazing shot, an amazing moment, one that I’m going to remember forever now (laughter).

BERLINER: I mean, that shot could have changed your life.

HOLLAND: Yeah, it definitely could have. It definitely could have, but…

BERLINER: So many things could’ve knocked Holland off stride. The game’s on the line. The 24-second clock is ticking down to zero. The defender who’s 6-foot-7 and a former Celtic is draped all over him.

HOLLAND: Maybe he’ll jump, but he didn’t jump. And he closed out on me hard.

BERLINER: There’s no other option now. He has to shoot. Holland goes straight up, and the high-arcing shot falls through the net. Three days after that shot, as he’s about to take a nap, Holland gets a life-changing call from his agent. He’s going to the NBA. I meet up with Holland a few days later.

So tell me what you’re wearing right now. What’s that say?

HOLLAND: Oh, this is just a practice shirt – says Boston Basketball.

BERLINER: Boston Celtics Basketball.

HOLLAND: Boston Celtics Basketball.

BERLINER: We’re in a hallway in TD Garden a few hours before his second game with the Celtics. Holland’s called up for the last two games of the regular season and the playoffs. He makes $25,000, more than his salary with Canton for the entire D-League season.

In the NBA, you get paid even if you’re not in uniform. And tonight, Holland’s on the bench in street clothes. After the game, as we walk through the same hallway, Holland’s absorbing exactly what happened. The call up couldn’t have come at a better time.

You’re 27, right?

HOLLAND: Yes.

BERLINER: So this was the year for you to make a move?

HOLLAND: Yeah, this was it. This was it. I mean, basketball – life is short.

BERLINER: Holland’s going back to his hotel and offers to give me a ride. And we climb into the car the Celtics have given him to use – a really nice car.

Is this a rental?

HOLLAND: Yeah. Life is different. I mean, they got it for me.

BERLINER: Driving a Mercedes – they got it for him.

HOLLAND: Yeah.

BERLINER: The Celtics wind up losing in the first round of the playoffs, and Holland barely gets on the court. He plays a grand total of one minute. But next season, John Holland has the chance to turn that one NBA minute into many. Uri Berliner, NPR News.

Copyright © 2016 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Brenda Newport is an unwavering fan of the minor league basketball team: Canton Charge. She says rooting for the home team and heckling the opposition give her life as she battles cancer.

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

What does it mean to be a sports fan – not just the part about wearing team jerseys or keeping up with wins and losses – emotionally? NPR’s Uri Berliner looked for an answer when he followed a minor league basketball team for a season.

URI BERLINER, BYLINE: The team is the Canton Charge. They play in the NBA Development League in a scrappy Rust Belt city.

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Make some noise.

BERLINER: Sometimes the arena sells out. But on this snowy, February night, the building is less than half-full, a crowd of 1,694.

BRENDA NEWPORT: You aren’t doing it in my corner, Patty.

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Make some noise.

(CHEERING)

NEWPORT: No shot over here. Might as well leave now.

BERLINER: That voice belongs to Brenda Newport. Newport has season tickets – floor seats, two of them, right under the basket.

BERLINER: She takes one. One of her 14 children takes the other. Newport is loud.

NEWPORT: (Chanting) Let’s go, Charge. Let’s go, Charge. Let’s go, Charge.

BERLINER: And she’s demonstrative. Newport has this nickname, the Dancer, for the routines she does during games.

NEWPORT: I almost feel guilty if I come and I can’t jump up and dance as much as I normally do. But it’s a struggle. I walk with a cane. Chemo destroys your body a little bit more than you’d like to admit.

BERLINER: Five years ago, Newport was living with breast cancer. She wanted to make the most of her time.

NEWPORT: My husband and I were told I had between three and six months. And my bucket list was always to have floor seats at the Cavs, which wasn’t really going to happen without a lot of money.

BERLINER: That’s the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James’s team. Instead, Newport and her husband got floor seats to the Charge.

NEWPORT: In his mind, as long as I have floor seats and I have excitement coming to the games – that I’m still going to be around. And that was five years ago.

BERLINER: Pretty quickly, Newport discovered there are benefits to rooting for a minor league team.

NEWPORT: The players are so personable. They kind of high-five you, and they talk to you. And you don’t always get that when you go to an NBA game.

BERLINER: Antoine Agudio is one of those players. He’s known as Mr. Charge. That’s his nickname. He’s played for the team all of those five years.

ANTOINE AGUDIO: When she comes to the games, she – it brings her life – watching us play, you know, the competition, you know, the game for herself, and she loves it. And, like, it moves her.

BERLINER: Of course, cheering for the home team is just one aspect of being a fan. There’s also trying to annoy the opposition. That starts as soon as Newport gets her food and heads to her seats.

NEWPORT: I walk back. And I’ll start telling the other team – you know you’re going to lose tonight, right? So psychologically, I’m already working on them.

BERLINER: And after halftime, when the opposing team is just a few feet away…

NEWPORT: So I’ll say this is my house. This is my corner. You won’t make any shots in this corner. And they get so rattled. It’s fun to watch.

BERLINER: Until now, so much of her life has been about birth. She’s the mother of 14. And then there are the 2,900 babies she’s delivered working as a midwife – 2,900. On the other side of all those births, she’s got cancer again.

NEWPORT: Cancer has kind of come back. So some nights, I haven’t been quite as well. I missed last Tuesday. But generally speaking, as long as I can walk, I’m here.

BERLINER: On this night, Newport gets what she came for, a win by the home team. For her, the games are more than just an enjoyable distraction.

NEWPORT: They’re like life to me. I look forward to every game. And I am really disappointed if I can’t go. And I go through withdrawals when a season’s over.

BERLINER: Uri Berliner, NPR News.

Copyright © 2016 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.